Salman Rushdie

Login to find out (September 11, 2005 at 8:38pm)

i wrote my thesis on Midnight's Children. i loved how he treated the relationship between Pakistan and India.

Login to find out (July 11, 2005 at 12:37pm)

thanks for the tip. :) I have heard of him and watched interviews, but never read his works. inshaAllah, i'll get a chance to check those out!

Login to find out (July 10, 2005 at 8:40am)

Rozaiba i think identity crisis do exsist. its not a facade, although some ppl might use it as in excuse to overcome their weaknessness but on a larger more personal and even social and national scale it does exsist. fiction and theory might overdo it at times, yes, but that does not mar its exsistance!

Login to find out (July 10, 2005 at 8:12am)

fat_cat: I think this whole notion of identity crisis is sham used to overdo the mind?s attempt to come to terms with new situations.

sonia: that's the tragedy of many a writer. they aren't their best in the public sphere. vaisay i would like to add that rushdie's overated.

Login to find out (July 9, 2005 at 9:08am)

I have a friend who met Rushdie at a book reading and was really unimpressed. Apparently he's much more charismatic on paper.

Login to find out (July 9, 2005 at 4:06am)

sonia it was a 'critical reading' course!! Aminar iv never attended a lecture by him but have gone through a lot of his interviews n yes i can relate to a lot of identity issues and detachments that he talks abt!
but yes i did attend a lecture by bapsi sidhwa where she said`"rushdie borrows his humor from me" something that not only shocked the students but even our instructors as v all agree that rushdies humor is no match to sidhwas! but then i guess v live in a free world where ppl have the right 2 say wat they want:)

Login to find out (July 8, 2005 at 7:26pm)

Wow, sounds like a great exercise! What class was it for?

Login to find out (July 8, 2005 at 4:50pm)

sonia i definitely agree that it adds to the depth and prespective of the writing! it makes it easier to understand the writers view n at times even relate to it but then i also feel that at times v have 2 4get who the writer is in order to associate or even get a better feel of the whole text! we conducted an inclass activity once where we read a text by a gay writer! people who did not knw the identity of the writer reacted almost opposite to the people who actually knew that the writer wasnt straight! so it basically depends on how one precieves a piece of writing! nothing is meaningless n that is 4 sure!

Login to find out (July 8, 2005 at 1:21pm)

Fat_Cat: The study of what men and women read that I was referring to was not done on Pakistanis, it was a UK study. It shows that even when it comes to internationally acclaimed books, men overwhelmingly tend to prefer male authors. Racism, sexism, and discrimination are not only still around, but thriving as well - in both the East and the West. And I think an author's identity - whether it be male, female, black, white, gay, or straight - only adds to the richness and depth of perspective, and should therefore not be cast aside as meaningless.

Login to find out (July 8, 2005 at 8:51am)

@sonia! well if u xclude the typical pakistani men i think this problem of identifying who wrote wat doesnt xsist to a large xtend! sexism...raceism...all have come a long way n with all the bisexuals and eunuchs writing i think v really need to stop identifying the writer as a female..male...muslim...nonmuslim.. ..black...white... straight...not so straight.....in the east for a very long time we did have the males dominating the literary scene but now with women like uzma aslam khan n umm ok even bapsi sidhwa women writers r taking a hike!! n yeah personally i think u shud just ditch the guy who thinks women cant write!!!:P n yeah as far as the acceptibility of a writing is concerened i think once a book is published n internationally acclaimed it doesnt hurt the writer much wat a few ppl with typical mind sets think!

Login to find out (July 8, 2005 at 8:37am)

@Rozaiba! aimlessness, detachment, alination..all these r now becoming traits of contemporary writings even if the fiction is magic realism cause i think v have reached a point in history where v have gotten over with the basic conflicts of modernity without actually ever being modern enough to knw their existance. so i guess by the end of the day it is the problem with identification that vr all actually facing! in one way or other our detachment actually turns into aimlessness or even vise a versa! its abt being a nihilist conciously or unconsiously!

Login to find out (July 8, 2005 at 6:53am)

Haven't read Midnight's Children, but Shame was my introduction to magic realism. Fat_Cat, I thought Rushdie did a really good job narrating the story from a woman's perspective. Not many authors do that. Do you think it's the challenge of portraying the thoughts of another gender or is there something more to it? Research has shown that men still prefer to read literature written by other men, while women enjoy books written by both men and women. Do you think women's pieces are perceived as less respectable by men?

Login to find out (July 8, 2005 at 4:34am)

i really liked Midnight's Children...that book re-launched my desire for reading...however, read Marquez after that and so all other author's with that magical realism style paled in comparison, including Rushdie. The problem with some of his works is that the 'unrootedness' turns into aimlessness. That question of identity always arises.

Login to find out (July 8, 2005 at 12:37am)

You're right, FC, it's not worth my time to wage arguments against people who take freedom of speech for granted and then want to shoot those who suffer from its absence.

But it should be fairly obvious to the rest of the community that condoning religious violence at this stage, whether against one person or many, is almost as counterproductive as committing the acts outright.

I read MC and loved it. I could say more but I am sure people have other things on their minds, so I won't post the longer version of my "book report." Here's hoping your loved ones and friends are safe around the globe.

Login to find out (July 8, 2005 at 12:24am)

go back to the caves asif, that's where the hell you belong.

there is nothing "funny" about hating and wanting to kill a person for writing something you don't agree with...even if it about "God" or whatever big teddy bear you use to comfort yourself from the real work of living in a world as a thinking individual.

if your response to someone practicing freedom of speech is to put one "between the eyes," the shame is on you.

Login to find out (July 7, 2005 at 11:14pm)

@Raisaroni! lets not get personal here! if u talk about accepting individual thought then accept it! every1 has the right 2 say wat they want! so plz watever asif sayz is not the issue of this journal! do comment on the two books if u have read them!

Login to find out (July 7, 2005 at 9:47am)

i think structurally it is one of the strongest works of fiction where there is a female narrator...a female narrator telling the story of a Patriarchal society!

Login to find out (July 6, 2005 at 4:55pm)

Thanks Asif, for that very efficiently Googled bit of information. Now let's get back to the subject at hand. Fat_cat, what did you think of Shame?

Login to find out (July 6, 2005 at 2:44pm)

i did mention in my journal tht i just want 2 discuss shame and midnights children as mere works of fiction and nothing else. i never did mock my faith nor do i intend to prove my point. when discussing world literature one has to get out from the typical mindset of considering an authors identity and whatever personal issues one might have with him. this is not a religous debate nor was i talking about satanic verses. so if u have any comments abt shame or midnights children do share them with us or else like the naseeb policy states if u have troubles with any journal and its contents u can always start one of your own!!!

Login to find out (July 6, 2005 at 2:13pm)

secondly, it's arrogant to assume i haven't read anything of his, i did read part of satanic verses, although i wouldn't pay for it, just read it in the bookstore, didn't sse the point in wasting time finishing it because as far as i'm concerned it was crap. i have limited time and better things to read.

he has serious issues with his own identity, and if you have ever seen him, he always tries to suck up to important wetern figures.

what i read from satanic verses, and from what i have seen of him, i have more than enough information to know why i don't like him.

so i stand by my comment, that it would be no great loss if he took one between the eyes. whether he does, or does not, justice will be served eventually.

what is funny is how muslims don't mind, and actually promote authors who defame their religion. how can someone love Allah and his messenger, and at the same time promote and support the work of someone who attempts to mock them?

Village Journals

Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.